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NEWPORT NEWS DAILY PRESS WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA A poor pooch perched on the peak of a roof on the outskirts of Williamsburg prompted a perilous police rescue Monday. Heath, an 8-month-old Chihuahua, somehow crawled onto the roof of a York Street home just before 11:30 a.m. Tabitha Panuco, who was dogsitting for her daughter while she was visiting family in Kansas , had left a second-floor window open when she left for work. Heath, described by Panuco as a high-jumper, had apparently cleared the sill and landed on the roof. Why the puppy decided to then scale the roof to its peak is anyone's guess. Panuco was on her way to work, but her bus -- delayed by an accident along its route -- didn't come. Good thing. "I was walking back up the driveway to go inside and he was right up there barking at me," she said. "I thought 'how did he get all the way up there?'" Unable to get to Heath herself, Panuco called in the professionals. Sgt. Don Janderup and Officer Tim Walker of the Williamsburg Police Department were dispatched. Janderup and Walker climbed out of a second-story window onto a low section of the roof on the rear of the house. From there, Janderup climbed a small stepladder to the uppermost section of the roof. "Good boy, Heath. Come here," Janderup implored, reaching out for the trembling puppy. But Heath would have none of it. The dog began to inch toward the front of the house from his perch on a dormer. As it became evident that the dog might slide off the steep roof if it went any farther, Panuco and two passersby stretched a quilt beneath the gutter to catch the dog if it fell. "We're going to try to lasso it," Janderup called down, referring to the braided wire-and-pole snare he'd been handed. Then it happened. Heath would not be lassoed. He started down the roof, then slid with paws outstretched and claws digging for traction. Everyone readied for the catch, but Heath stopped at the gutter. He then flung himself back through the window he'd jumped out of earlier. The dog was safe, but not Janderup. The ladder he had used to get onto the roof was too short for him to safely climb down. So firefighters brought in an extension ladder for him to climb down. It broke just after being extended, folding back into itself with a loud clang. "Thanks for bringing out the best equipment for me, guys," Janderup called jokingly from the roof. It took two more ladders to bring Janderup down the back of the house. Rescue complete. Panuco thanked the officers profusely. "Hopefully, that's the most dangerous thing they have to do all day," Panuco said, then asked the officers for a note to prove she had a valid reason for being late for work. One of the officers said her boss could call him, if necessary.
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